Click here to view video and listen to the song The song I'm sharing with you today is one that i was really inspired by the Spirit to write and I lately I have really felt impressed to share it hoping that maybe others can relate and find inspiration in it. This song is called "Real World" and it was inspired by a few different concepts. It's been really interesting to come home from my mission and review my pre-mission life and kind of everything I used to do before the mission. The social media presence in our time is huge, I feel like especially for my generation. I remember before my mission getting so caught up in comparing my news feed to the next girl or guy and constantly trying to live up to this portrayal of that "pretty girl" on Instagram who has lots of followers, lots of likes, lots of self validating comments, and whatever else. Everyone's life seems so fun, adventurous, flawless, blah blah blah. But then I shut down my phone and shipped off for eighteen months on a mission for my church with no Instagram or Facebook or any social media of that nature. There we use iPads for the missionary work and I was blessed to learn really inspiring principles from a pamphlet called "Safeguards for Using Technology" and it taught me amazing safeguards and principles I can govern myself by when it comes to technology use. It talks about things such as the purpose of our technology use and if we're using it for good, our discipline in our technology use and how much time we're using on it, how often we open it up, and things like that. I became so good at these habits of proper technology use but I was scared to come back to the real world of Instagram and Facebook and everything else. I just wanted to keep these safeguards somehow. It has been really interesting to come back after eighteen months of serving the Lord and serving His children (which is something that brings a far greater sense of fulfillment and satisfaction) and realize that all of that self validating social media use isn't as attractive anymore. I really don't care that much about it to be honest. I haven't gone all anti-social media. I still think it is an amazing tool that was inspired and it can be used for such good purposes, but I have found such greater joy and entertainment and satisfaction in living life in the REAL WORLD detached from checking my newsfeed and notifications every two minutes. Enjoying vacation time without feeling like I have to capture everything in a cool photo to post, or enjoying time with my family without feeling like I have to be connected with some social virtual reality all day every day. I think social media has its good purposes and I love staying in touch with people, seeing what they're up to, and I really do enjoy a pretty picture every once in a while, don't get me wrong. But I think it's more of the perfect portrayal of our life mentality that is affecting so many people of my generation. The dirty comparison game that is the thief of joy! We all just need to be happy for each other and NOT feel like if our life isn't the same, or our wardrobe isn't the same, or our body isn't the same, or our whatever isn't the same as the "pretty girl" we are following on Instagram that somehow, our life doesn't have as much worth. I hope this can help someone somewhere who may feel a little lost and undervalued because of this sneaky mentality the adversary tries to manipulate us with. Heavenly Father knows you, loves you, and sees you. Greater joy than ANYTHING ELSE is found when we are following Him, serving Him, and serving His children. That's where true self worth comes from. And that's where the best kind of self validation comes from, I promise!
Lyrics:
Im staring at the photos
Of who I am supposed to be
What I'm supposed to see in
The mirror will tell you many lies
Like you're not good enough
So you gotta keep trying
Oh in my head, I can feel at peace
I'm never satisfied, cause it's all just a lie to myself
(Chorus)
Please tell me what is it worth?
To be "that pretty girl"
The bill came and it's quite the cost
As we're feeling worthless and lost
But there is so much more to me
Than what they're seeing on the screen
The Lord gave me a greater cause
And since then, I can see this isn't the real world after all.
We're all so trapped in this game
Of my world verses yours
Our feed decides our worth
What if we turned off everything?
Captured what's around with only sight and song
We're all made for far greater things than what this world provides while we're trapped in all its lies of who we are
(Chorus)
The real world doesn't look this perfect every single day
We all feel some pain too
Photos might hide everything on the other side
So we all must realize
We can't live our lives through a screen, no
(Finishing Chorus)
I promise it's not your worth
To be "that pretty girl"
The bill came and it's quite the cost
We're better off, seeking the One Who knows where we're lost
There is so much more to me
Than what they're seeing on the screen
The Lord gave me a greater cause,
And since then I can see this isn't the real world after all
.
